Three suspects in the death of rapper Foolio last month were arrested on Monday, according to Florida authorities, though two are still at large. All three were charged with murder.
According to a statement from Tampa police, the killing was motivated by an ongoing conflict between rival gangs.
The rapper from Jacksonville, whose true name is Charles Jones, was shot and killed early on June 23 in the parking lot of an uptown hotel in Tampa. In the parking lot, police discovered two automobiles that had been shot at.
On social media, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office reported that three people had been arrested on Saturday. Sean Gathright, 18, Alicia Andrews, 21, and Isaiah Chance Jr., 21, were named as the suspects.
According to authorities, Andrews and Chance are accused with planning to commit premeditated first-degree murder with a firearm as well as premeditated first-degree murder with a firearm.
According to authorities, Gathright is accused with tampering with tangible evidence, two charges of premeditated murder with a firearm, and three counts of first-degree attempted premeditated murder with a firearm.
“They are currently in the Duval County Pre-Trial Detention Center on murder charges, pending transfer to Tampa,” the sheriff’s office stated.
Police added that Rashad Murphy, 30, and Davion Murphy, 27, are the suspects still at large. They are all accused of three charges of attempted first-degree murder in addition to first-degree murder. Whether the two are connected was not made clear by the police.
Chance and Andrews found and followed Jones and his group to two different sites on the day that he was killed, according to the police.
They exited their car at each spot, and Chance took out a cellphone, according to the police. A second suspicious vehicle showed up at each site after he used the phone, according to the police. Then, according to them, both cars followed Jones to the hotel.
One car passed the victims’ parked cars twice before driving away, according to the police. Three gunmen then got out of the car and started shooting at Jones’ cars, killing Jones and wounding three others.
The suspects were identified by Tampa police as Davion Murphy, Sean Gathright, and Rashad Murphy.
Jones was listed by the sheriff’s office as a Jacksonville “6 Block” gang member. The “ATK” and “1200” gangs and the gang are at odds. According to the authorities, Chance belongs to the ATK, Rashad Murphy to the 1200, and Davion Murphy to the 1200 associate group.
“The feud between 6 Block and its rival gangs, ATK and 1200, has spanned over a decade with dozens of murders by and against both sides,” police stated.
On Monday afternoon, it was unclear right away if the detained suspects had legal representation. According to the sheriff’s office, which released footage of the three suspects’ apprehension, the case is still pending.
“There’s no place you’ll be able to hide if you commit crime in Jacksonville or any other city in the state of Florida,” Sheriff T.K. Walters stated.
During a press conference on Monday afternoon, State Attorney Susan Lopez stated: “All five of these defendants are facing life in the Florida State Prison, even the ones who didn’t pull the trigger. In Florida, if you participate in the planning of a murder, you can be held accountable for the person’s death, and that is what we intend to do here.”
She added, “It is clear that they all had one purpose in coming to Tampa, and that was to kill.”
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Lopez brought attention to the emotional toll that homicides have on the relatives of the victims.
A video that Jones, 26, shared on his Instagram story shows that the night before he was killed, he was enjoying his birthday. On the platform, he possessed one million followers. In a video he posted, he promoted a pool party and instructed his fans to direct message him for the address.
He said on social media later that evening that the cops had “shut us down and kicked us out” of their Airbnb.
In a statement, Jones’s attorney Lewis Fusco said that after moving to a Holiday Inn, he was ambushed in the parking lot. Along with revealing the release of his most recent album, “Resurrection,” in April, Jones said on social media that he had already escaped “MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS ON MY LIFE.”
